There are a variety of different systems for carrying stores on a dynamic platform such as an aerospace vehicle, and for deploying the stores therefrom. In one commonly used system, the stores are releasably mounted to mounting stations of aircraft, space vehicles and the like by means of lugs integrally formed or permanently fixed on the stores, either externally on pylons, or within a bomb bay or the like, and the lugs may be releasably engaged with release shackles or the like on the carrier vehicle. The lugs are joined to the stores casing in a manner such as to enable it to stand the dynamic loads during operation of the vehicle, and the lugs are provided in the prior art as a unitary item with the stores, limiting use of the particular stores with a particular mounting station configuration. However, providing a metal lug joined to the casing may present difficulties when the casing is non-metallic and/or the casing is thin and/or is subject to significant expansion during operation of the stores. The latter may be the case, for example, when the stores comprises a rocket engine for propelling a payload, wherein engine experiences expansion during firing.
Examples of some known mounting systems are briefly discussed below.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,547,182, a solid rocket motor used as a booster rocket for a launch vehicle is provided with a mounting structure that includes a raised hub to which the thrust pin is attached, a series of aft-directed struts and a pair of transverse struts, all terminating in separate plates for bolting to the rocket motor case
U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,669 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,876 disclose a missile launcher having an elongate planar platform formed integral with the body of the launcher. Plural bomb rack fasteners and pylon mounting lugs are fixed to the platform surface to accommodate different aircraft types. Plural sway braces are removably fixed to the side edges of the platform surface. Each sway brace can be fixed to desired positions along the side edges of the platform surface to also accommodate different aircraft type mounting apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,475 discloses a jettisonable missile launcher pod has support lugs which extend upwardly through a relatively small separate hardback structure to latch into standard release hooks in an aircraft-mounted pylon. The hardback is adjustably attached to the pylon and contains the required high technology electronic gear for the missile system. When the pod is jettisoned, it drops from the release hooks as usual, but the electronic gear remains with the aircraft in the hardback.
AIAA-2006-1722 (“Mission and System design of Air Launching Rocket Using Multidisciplinary Optimization Approach”) discloses an air launched rocket, which is carried on and deployed from the underside of a fuselage of a mother aircraft. RS4-2006-2001 (“Responsive Air Launch Using F-15 Global Strike Eagle”, 4th Responsive Space Conference 2006, Los Angeles) discloses an air launched rocket, which is carried on and deployed from the back of a carrier aircraft. AIAA 2007-6146 (“Flight Testing of a Gravity Air Launch Method to Enable Responsive Space Access”, AIAA Space 2007) discloses carrying a rocket in the cargo hold of a cargo aircraft, and deploying the same via the aft cargo doors: a drogue parachute is used for facilitating deployment of the rocket, after which the rocket may be fired once clear of the aircraft.